I think games are more socially accepted now than you are giving them credit for.

Perhaps 3 or more years ago this may have been an issue, but in wide segments of the population (mostly every age group from 3-30), gaming has become an accepted non-geek practice....particularly console gaming (thanks largely to Sony''s PlayStation, I must admit).

It might seem that games are more socially accepted. But on a monday, not too many people say, "aww man my fingers hurt. I played quake too much this weekend." A more common thing to hear is, "gawdang headache. Went out too much this weekend."

Personally, games aren''t as accepted because they are something that you can do in a room by yourself. And people really don''t want to hear about that.

Making friends one burger at a time.

If games aren''t as socially accepted as movies and whatnot, it''s because there is nothing social about them, really. Most games are single player, and it''s not very fun to watch someone else play.

"YOU APES WANNA LIVE FOREVER?" Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
"Who wants to live forever?" Queen
"Never trust a bald barber" me
B^)

It really depends on where you live. In Japan, they treat their game musicians like rock stars...I''ve heard (never been there myself) that they treat their designers the same way.


Hmmm. Maybe it''s time to move to Japan

Brian Tuey
Gigawatt Studios
www.gwatt.com

It partly has to do with where the games come from. Books, movies and other art did not start out as ''entertainment'' and ''toys'' but as tools for people who were respected in society. If games had been invented and used by scientists, journalists and priests, games too would be more respected.

Henry

movies pretty much began as entertainment.

~ericj

Well, movies have a strong link to photography, the tool of artists and journalists. Both movies and photography started out being used mainly by the scientists who invented them since both art forms required knowledge in subjects like chemistry for developing film etc. We have all seen those test movies of people performing a monotonous action like running or jumping.

The origin of the artform is only part of the explanation though. Games started out as kids toys and I''m sure they will get more respected as older people start playing them more. Another thing is the purpose of the games today. When games start making political statements and dealing with real issues, then too will they get more respect. Right now games are more treated like sit-coms, soaps and other light entertainment.

This is a great opportunity for game developers since the Crime and Punishment or the Shindler''s List of computer games is yet to be written. After all, if you are just in it for the quick buck then I suggest you start developing business apps instead

Henry